


sometimes, when it is cloudy, i can’t sleep

by Niibeth



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Curses, Happy Ending, Historical Inaccuracy, Human Sacrifice, Illnesses, M/M, Murder, No Porn, Plague, References to Lovecraft, Sea Monsters, Serious Injuries, geographical Inaccuracy, small chapters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:48:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22293601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Niibeth/pseuds/Niibeth
Summary: Armitage hasn’t seen his father since he’s been five years old. He grew up hungry and poor and didn’t hesitate when his old man suddenly sent him a letter promising a profitable job in an affluent seaside town. Even if this job had an unexpected dark side to it Armitage could always call to his own darkness.PS Translation to Russian is here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22296493
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo, Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren
Comments: 13
Kudos: 35





	1. First dream

Armitage sat jammed between other third-class passengers, pulling his legs up not to disturb fellow travelers on the opposite berth as well as their bags and trunks. Their lumpy baggage and grey faces reminded him of the last potatoes left in the spring. But there was not much else to see: the window has been covered with soot. He hid behind his half-empty burlap suitcase and felt not better than an old greenish potato himself.

They have arrived at the station at five in the morning and he was the only one to get off the train. The railway station and adjacent houses were hiding in the deep fog, a street seemed to end abruptly in a grey abyss as if god hasn’t decided if he was going to create the rest of the world. With each step Armitage made, following the address on the soggy piece of paper, the abyss moved a little further down the road.

Fish-eyed butler promptly opened the door of a big house, silently took Armitage’s hat and coat and led him to a guest bedroom. The house was sparsely lit at this time, though servants obviously performed their morning duties already. As he walked through the house, he snatched glimpses of gilded frames, brass knobs, embroidered red tapestries, marble mantelpieces. His room offered a lavish four-poster bed, new and intricate furniture, and a door to a modern bathroom with hot and cold-water faucets. The air was chilly and humid, and he ducked under a fat eiderdown blanket and minutes later drowned in a soft mattress.

_Down, down, down. He was drowning. He couldn’t swim and uselessly flailed his arms and kicked against the long slimy seaweeds. The weeds pulled him into the darkness, and their grip only turned firmer with each attempt to break free until he understood that he hasn’t been trapped by a plant but has been caught by a living creature._


	2. Second dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first morning in his father's town has mostly acquainted him with many types of fish pastries. "I'm going to become a fish myself", - he thought: "If I wouldn't find the place where I can get normal food".

He woke up to a polite knock at the door and quickly dressed back into his best and only suit, still a little soggy from the morning walk. The mist has gone, and from the window he saw the trees covered with droplets of dew so shiny it was painful to look at them. The house still felt cold, but maybe the reason was his bad health.

Brendol Hux has already taken his place at the table. Armitage paused at the entrance. He hasn’t remembered much. Decades ago, his father was a colossus – big legs, several chins, closed fists with reddened knuckles. Now, when he was sitting, it was hard to recognize him, as if you somehow ascended the air over the Great Pyramid of Giza instead of looking at it from the earth.

\- Sit already! – Brendol ordered.

The voice was still the same. It still made Armitage’s knees weak, so he gladly sat down.

\- The tailor awaits you after breakfast. Bad that you wouldn’t look presentable when my friends and colleagues come tonight, but we have to work with what we have. You have lost twenty useless years already and I don’t want you to waste time anymore.

While Armitage mused should he answer with pretend politeness or show his earnest feelings about that welcoming speech, father unfolded the newspaper leaving smears on the pages. Armitage was left in a company of a hearty meal, consisting mostly of fish – caviar butter, toasts with herring and onions and salmon sandwiches. Even the tea tasted faintly like fish, though Armitage wasn’t one to complain about the rich food.

Tailor was a young fearful man named Mitaka. To Hux amusement he looked at him with something akin to awe and even stuttered some compliments, that seemed sincere. Mitaka promised to prepare everything Hux may ever need in three days and took measurements for the shoemaker as well.

Armitage had nothing to do until the evening event, so he decided to take a walk around the town. The air outside felt warmer than inside the house. He went down the road, guessing that it would take him to the seaside. With each house, each crossroad he saw freshly painted houses, bright signboards, precisely cut hedges, and fancy flowerbeds. Every turn looked as if waiting for an artist to draw a cheap watercolor for tourists. The bankside had the same atmosphere: the quay was clean, guarded by a neat decorative picket fence. There were no drunks, nor beggars, and even a couple of fishermen looked jolly as if they came from a kid’s book, one that people give away in churches.

Armitage scoffed in disbelief. But even he couldn’t resist the scent coming from the open door of a bakery with a gilded sign reading “The gates”. Big orange cat pretending to be another bread loaf on the counter royally consented to his petting. A high blond woman has put a giant tray of muffins on a shelve and smiled at him.

\- How can I help you?

He noticed with displeasure that seaweed buns and some anchovy paste tarts made their way even to this establishment, but thankfully more traditional vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg pastries prevailed. Armitage settled on simple raisin roll and tea, paid another visit to a cat and continued his walk. This time he went up the parallel street, which was as picturesque and as boring as the rest of them.

One building – darker and taller than the neighboring houses – attracted his attention. The brass plaque on the door said: “Skywalker Public Library”. Armitage knocked on the door, waited and entered the dark hall. No one greeted him, so he hanged his coat on an empty rack and went inside, considering that he falls under the definition of public.

The air in the library was dry and warm. Two doors at the opposite ends of the room were opened and he could see more bookshelves on both sides. This room offered the choice of books that he defined “casual” – some religious tomes, basic dictionaries, basic science, two shelves or gardening and cooking advice, several well-read tomes of kid’s stories and most-loved novels by most known writers. Small tables were overflown by newspapers and magazines. He took a book at random and sat in the low cozy leather chair by the window to the courtyard. He opened the book at a random page:

“It spends much of its solitary life in a den, leaving at night to hunt. When it does venture out of its den, the creature uses one of several methods to get around. The preferred method of locomotion for many is a form of walking. Rows of suckers on the underside of each arm enable the creature to move itself forward along the seafloor”.

_And he went down to the seafloor. The creatures in the darkness touched him, held him, explored. As he fought and spurned one of the touching limbs, another attached itself, and then he suddenly noticed that he could breathe easily in the water, even with more ease than he was used to on land. That’s when he finally saw his own arms – white, long, naked, and terribly deformed._


	3. Third dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Going to sleep he wished to see fire, to watch his enemies burning, his usual dreams, but this place intended to send him nightmares about the damned sea.

He woke up with a shout and dropped a book. It never reached a floor, a stranger swiftly caught it.

The man looked at the cover and smiled:

\- San Tekka could never hope to arouse such strong emotions in his readers.  
\- I’m sorry, - said Hux: I didn’t want to invade, but the door was open.  
\- It’s my fault that you were left without a welcome and help. Ben Solo, librarian.  
\- Tage, Sloane. Pleased to meet you.  
\- Are you a tourist?  
\- No, I had a job offer here, but the work hasn't started yet, so I decided to take a walk around the town.  
\- Do you want to see the rest of the library?

Hux willingly agreed. Ben Solo had a deep and kind voice and looked calm and interested. As they walked around the library, he examined young man from the corner of his eye and decided that they were in some way opposites of each other. He was thin and unhealthy; Ben was broad and bursting with life. He was dressed in a new, but a cheap suit that already started fraying at the edges, and Ben’s soft casual clothes were well-worn but obviously expensive. His eyes were dark and soulful, while Armitage has heard more than once, that he looked at people as if he wanted to stab them – well, he did! – and probably lacked the soul completely.

The library consisted of only four halls. Two others were dedicated to translations and religious and spiritual literature. The fourth room was closed – Ben told him that he worked on important research there, continuing his late granddad's work.

He invited Armitage to drink tea in the small garden encircled by the library and luckily offered him no fish snacks, only apples and honey to go with the tea, which raised him even higher in Armitage's opinion. He felt relaxed listening to Ben’s voice and watching a sleepy bee circling the table.

\- Where are you from?  
\- Jakku.  
\- Oh, I’ve been there with my uncle.  
\- Have you been robbed?  
\- Sorry?  
\- That’s a local joke. “I’ve been to Jakku” means “being robbed”, as we tell.  
\- Actually, two guys tried to rob my uncle.  
\- What happened to them?  
\- I think they both took the monastic vows after his lecture.

Armitage laughed and shared a story about Sloane and the con-master. Ben told how his dad took him to the casino instead of babysitting. The time flew unnoticed and it was past midday when he stood up and bid goodbye, thinking that he maybe has found a friend or someone better.

He went home in time to meet again with Mitaka, who brought an array of new leather shoes. Mitaka promised that his people have started working already.

The clock stroke six, and Brendol’s friends and colleagues arrived one by one. All of them shared Brendol’s age, posture and charming personality, many had military standing. Brendol hastily warned him to be polite and silent. He easily abided to the command.

Soon he decided that he hated all of them, though some were worse than others. Good looking one – Pryde – who carried a riding crop for some reason – kept on telling obscure jokes, that were clearly aimed at Armitage. Another was Brooks, who called himself an admiral. What fleet could he command in that tiny town, -Armitage wondered - if it hasn't consisted of wine bottles?

In a couple of hours, when his patience grew thin, the old men finally agreed that he definitely “must visit Snoke” and Brendol hinted that he may leave. Brooks used the moment to touch his waist and leave his hand there for too long, as if accidentally.

In his room, Armitage undressed, washed thoroughly, but the skin still felt tainted. Stirring fire with a cast-iron poker he imagined breaking those abusing digits with a metal rod, one by one.

_His hands were naked, pale and deformed. One turned into a kind of lobster claw covered with ill-looking flesh. Another arm, bent with unhuman flexibility, had a row of purple suckers on the underside. Never he felt so disgusted with his own body, but he had no time for further research, because the creatures surrounding him suddenly swam away, as if scared. Seafloor under him trembled. He looked ahead where the water turned untransparent. Something was moving in this blackness, something aimed at him. Something the shape and size he couldn’t discern, and as it moved closer, he understood that all his estimates were futilely wrong._


	4. Forth dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Armitage learned the goal and scape of work awaited from him he couldn't decide what was worse - Snoke's plan, verging on madness, or the people he would have to work with.

He woke up coughing up seawater, which turned to be just an edge of the blanket. He was coughing still as he left the room. Armitage decided not to share the breakfast with Brendol, but to go to the familiar bakery instead. It was still early to visit the mysterious Snoke in the local cathedral, so he carefully chose non-fish pastries and talked to Phasma – the owner of the shop.

\- Is it true that you have a real cathedral here, not just a church?

Phasma smiled:

\- Didn’t you know? I thought it was in a kid’s book. To scare the kids.  
\- I haven’t spent my childhood reading pretty books, and neither you, I think. What is the story?

The story was, naturally, about the sea. Once upon a time, a great storm descended on the town, leading to a flood. Streets were covered with water so deep that rich families had to carry their belongings upstairs, and poor families, fishermen who lived closer to the shore, were left homeless. People begged for help, and suddenly the bishop, who wasn’t known for his generosity, offered them shelter in the cathedral – the highest building in town. A small fleet of boats took the poor families to the hill, and then they walked to the church doors and receiver biscuits, blankets and even hot chocolate for the kids. In the evening the bishop left and barred the door from the outside. The whole night the storm thundered and blustered, and no one heard the cries. In the morning as the clouds parted citizens went to the dome with the lunch and found out that all people inside have drowned.

\- How!?

\- Nobody knows. There could be no water, of course, the building is too high for the sea to reach it. But there were dead bodies in wet clothes, seaweeds, and shellfish on the floor. The bishop swore that he had no idea who closed the gates. But even poor people have friends and relatives, so the bishop took an axe to his fancy hat, and the cathedral was plundered – all silver chandeliers and golden statues were taken to pay for the deceased.

With that, she pointed at the carved window frame, one that stood out – posh and gilded. 

\- Church gates. That’s why the name, - she explained.

Thinking of that story Armitage went to the infamous cathedral. As he reached the prominent building, he was breathless. He looked up at the dome. The wind carried small clouds so fast that it looked as if the dome was endlessly falling on him. Armitage shuddered and went inside hoping not to show his weakness to another Brendol’s pal.

If there was plunder, it left no trace. The interior was rich. Stained-glass windows colored the walls and statues in shades of green and blue, reflected by golden lamps. The decorators went on a limb with the sea theme and carved seashells and intertwining seaweeds everywhere, instead of more common – in Armitage limited religious knowledge – grape-vines. Maybe that design gave birth to a local legend, - he though, - and Phasma did look like a person who would tool with a newcomer.

Another fish-eyed servant who could be a twin brother of his father’s butler – and maybe was, that was a small town after all – gestured to him, inviting to the right wing and then to a spacious office of the bishop.

He was expecting to see another irritating man his father’s age, but Snoke looked ancient. On his bald, spotted head he had a scar, that could be given by an axe, but Armitage quickly dismissed that stupid though. Snoke was skeleton thin and inhumanely high, and everything in his office looked made for a person who lived on another, larger scale, than normal humans.

\- How do you feel, child?  
\- Thank you, I’m fine.  
\- You don’t need to lie to me. But trust me, your sickness wouldn't matter anymore soon. Well, I’ve heard you have an experience with excavation works. Field experience and even inventions of your own?  
\- You really know me well, then.

Snoke smiled and unfolded a giant scroll that covered the whole desk.

\- Look at this.

The scroll was a technical blueprint of a kind, drawn in ancient times by someone who thought that wind rose wouldn’t work without a colorful dragon in it. Probably some local genius. He squinted.

\- Tunnels going under the seafloor and opening into the water?  
\- Yes, - Snoke looked pleased.  
\- That’s highly unlikely. At least not in our latitude, not with our rock type.  
\- But they exist. A system of caves and tunnels – some natural and some built – can lead us under the sea and reach its treasures with the help of special equipment our ancestors left us.  
\- But why even use them? Sure, fish can be caught in a more traditional way.  
\- Do you know that our shore has witnessed one of the greatest sea battles in history? And what do wars leave in their wake?  
\- Dead people.

Snoke frowned.

\- Sunken ship. Treasures, like I said. Just one opened chamber has brought us so much that we not only fully restored the cathedral but shared with the city. And you may have noticed, child, in these struggling times our town does more than well. Imagine what can we achieve if we reach the rest 12 chambers and all the wrecks. Sadly, some of the mechanisms our ancestors have built were destroyed by time and some of the documents were lost. And that’s why we need you.

Armitage signed. But it wasn’t the first time he worked with people who have lost a couple of screws, and that one was wealthy. 

\- Can I see the works?

Without an answer, Snoke rang a bell, and the servant arrived and led Armitage away. To his surprise, they didn’t leave the building but went to the left wing and then started a seemingly endless descent by a spiral staircase. As soon as he wanted to ask would they have to walk all the way down, they reached an ornamented metal door. The servant pulled a lever, and with the hiss of steam and clank of metal a mechanism set to work. Soon the noises became very laud and then stopped. The servant opened the door to a tiny room without windows and with another set of levers – an elevator.

The way down was technically brilliant, though tiresome. Several more tunnels and elevators and a long ride on the minecart. The conditions in the tunnels were much better than in any of the mines he worked, but still the air underground and so close to the sea made him nauseated.

Finally, they arrived in the enormous hall carved in stone – natural or not he couldn’t tell. Steam mixed with seawater vapor, old brass and lead pipes looked like a part of the environment, entwining with the giant stone columns. A row of people in heavy diving gear descended into a dark mass of water and later arrived on the other side pushing carts filled with stones. Observing the workers stood a man whom Armitage, sadly, knew – Pryde.

The air was stifling, and he wasn’t at all surprised when one of the divers fell on the stone floor and started flying his arms in a fit of some malady. Armitage rushed forward. Through the thick, muddy glass of the diving helmet, he saw bulging eyes, pale face silently shouting in terror. Other divers continued their work not giving their fellow any attention. Armitage called for help and tried to unscrew the helmet, but his fingers slipped. And then he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder.

\- Stop it! – Pryde ordered, raising his riding crop again.

\- The fits are normal, he just needs to lay down for a while, – he explained with a sneer – But if you open the helmet, he can die. They need to get accustomed to air after work.

\- How many people did you kill to learn this? – Armitage asked.

Pryde snapped the crop, making Armitage flinch and didn’t answer satisfied with his reaction.

The way back was long and when he finally saw the sky, the first stars were already in it. His hopes to see Ben again faltered. Not only the library has been already closed, but his suit was dirty after kneeling on the cave’s floor, he was dead tired and smelled like dead fish. He went home, forced himself to take a shower and plopped on the bed, dreaming about setting Pryde on fire.

_And he was back. Under the sea. Whatever was coming from the depth was coming to him. He tried to turn, to swim or run away, but his movements in the water were impossibly slow and dragged for eternity, and he strained every tired muscle, every jittering tendon, but the darkness was faster and it was coming for him personally…_


	5. Fifth dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Night terrors release the daytime fears, - his godmother used to tell. Now he wasn't sure that he understood her correctly.

He woke up in the pitch-dark room, feeling sweaty and sick. At first, he even thought that a reason for his fatigue was an underwater chase, but then he remembered that it was just another dumb dream he was probably cursed to have in this town, meanwhile, the dreadful trip under the real sea was an evident reason for his state.

Armitage couldn’t understand at what time he woke up – was it a late evening or early morning. The house stood silent, the fire in the hearth went out, the sky was starless. He flung a blanket on and went out of the room to look at the longcase clock on his floor.

And then he has heard the footsteps and creaking of the door. Someone has entered the house in the darkness. He heard a familiar voice saying:

\- Welcome, brothers!

More footsteps, hushed answers. Curiosity made him step closer to the banister and look down. He could see cloaked shadows entering the hall. His father welcomed one dark figure after the other. "How naughty", – Armitage thought – "Father is leading a cult, not less! What would they do now? Start an orgy?"

He forgot about his sickness and tiptoed down the stairs to follow the cultists. They went through the house and one by one entered a smoking room, that was too small for such a gathering. After some hesitation, Armitage pulled the door open. The room was empty.

He tried to remember the design of the room, thinking, where he could possibly hide a door if he constructed that building. Ah, that was obvious, the niche to the left of the big floor vase didn’t have a match on the right. He touched the wall searching for the convenient place to hide a lever, and soon found it. Part of the wall silently moved aside, and he felt chilly air coming from a secret passage.

Stairs, once again. His legs protested, and he almost turned back, but an opportunity to dig into Brendol spurred him on. He stealthily went downstairs, keeping closer to the wall. The passage opened to a medium-sized hall, where the hooded figures gathered around the table, his dad – predictably – at the presiding place.

Men just finished chanting in a foreign language. Two places by the table were vacant, and Brendol asked his pals, where the hell was the rest of them?

\- Brooks has burned his hands, - answered another familiar voice.  
\- How!? – several participants wondered.  
\- He has slipped and grabbed at the stove in the kitchen.  
\- And Pryde?  
\- It’s… It's weird.  
\- What is weirder than going into a kitchen and grabbing at a hot stove? – Bredol asked.  
\- He met a swarm of wild bees on the way home. Turns out he reacts badly to the bites.  
\- It’s serious, - added an unexpected female voice – He may not survive.

It took all Hux willpower not to start giggling, but sadly the repressed laughter turned into a deep cough that was much harder to suppress. He tried to retreat silently. Whatever the father was up to, could wait.

As he went back to the stairs the fatigue has finally overcome him, and he collapsed to the floor. The fainting spell hit him like a wave, first eating away the sense of vision, then a sense of touch. Sound of stomping feet and surprised voices was the last thing he heard. He desperately tried to fight an attack, but soon lost consciousness as well.

_He couldn’t outrun the beast, and it was here, right in front of him. It was impossibly large, the bulk of it disappearing in the darkness. He felt hard claws sinking at his skin. Its head turned to look at him with one unblinking yellow eye, so big, he could see tiny fishes swimming in front of it, like birds flying in front of a lighted house window._

_\- Do I know you? - the creature asked._


	6. The nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You can’t just leave Arkanis.

This time Armitage woke up too tired to sit up. He was back in his room and could hear his father talking behind the door but recognized only one word – “useless”, as usual. There was someone in the room as well – a middle-aged woman sat by the window knitting a red and black rectangle.

When she noticed that he was awake, she politely introduced herself as doctor Engell. Armitage recognized her voice from his night adventure but remained impassive, and it looked that she wasn’t going to comment on the episode too.

He had breakfast in bed under Engell's scrutiny, and later she forbade him to leave the house, pretending to care about his health. Finally, she agreed that some fresh air in the garden wouldn’t hurt. So, he sat by the statue of a sad mermaid and Engell guarded him, clicking her sharp steel knitting needles.

Armitage regarded the cast-iron fence around the garden. In a better state, he could easily climb it. To be sure he had chosen a point where a low hanging tree branch could help him. Silently he stood up and walked to the fence. Engell wasn’t alarmed at first and broke into a run only when he put his foot on the first crossbeam.

She reached the fence as he was ready to jump down and grabbed his ankle with unnatural strength. Armitage grasped the branch and kicked his guard in the face. She released his ankle, he jumped down and clumsily fall. His leg hurt. Standing up and adjusting his clothes, he saw two rows of round purple bruises, that couldn’t be left by a human hand.

Shock nerved him up and he limped away from the house. Soon he heard shouts, made a sharp turn to the parallel street and rushed to the only place he thought he could trust – a library.

Armitage entered the library without knocking, hurried inside and rammed into a librarian's chest. But Ben held his ground easily.

\- Wow, you are really attracted to knowledge, – Ben smiled.

Armitage «sorry» died in a fit of cough. Ben looked at him with concern, took Armitage’s hand and led him to his office, a room bursting with papers, books, and blueprints.

\- Do you need anything? Shall I call a doctor?  
\- Can you take me to the railway station? I don’t think any doctor would help; I just can’t get used to that air. I had to cancel the job offer. I believe I will feel better as soon as I get home.  
\- Kriff, haven’t they told you? It happens to many visitors. But you are right, you will feel better at home. Next train will be just in a couple of hours. You are lucky.

Ben gathered things on a tray: teapot, milk pitcher, teacups. He kept talking, telling about a peculiar local disease – if he became a doctor as his mother always wished, he would learn what it was and found a remedy. Some people, like Ben, were not affected at all. Some had a severe flue, like Armitage. But some changed: they lost their voices, their faces and bodies disfigured. The plague returned every couple of generations.

\- You are absolutely right. You must leave, and honestly, your employers owe you.

Armitage admired Ben, watching him through eyelashes, waiting for fatigue to subside, irritated by a sheen of unhealthy sweat on his own face. Ben blushed, little teacups danced in his fingers and tea spilled.

\- Don’t look at me like this, - said Armitage: I’m ugly.  
\- No. You are shining.

Armitage tried to laugh but Ben’s eyes were honest and intense, and he moved a little too close for a casual talk. It took a little to move closer, kiss him and make the boy stop fumbling with the tea.

As he deepened the kiss, Ben anyway sent a teacup flying. He went to get a broom and dust tray, and Armitage, feeling better, looked around with increased curiosity. And saw a familiar scroll.

\- Are you working for Snoke? – he asked the librarian.  
\- Oh? Have you seen the project? Isn’t it wonderful!? – Ben looked up grinning happily: “My grandfather started the works, and master Snoke gave me a chance to decode his papers, though I don’t have a proper education. It’s such an honor… Wait. Were you supposed to work with me?”

After that, they drunk the tea in awkward silence. Ben didn’t dare to kiss him again or ask about the mood change. The time came and they left the house together and went to the railway station. Nobody chased them. The station was fortunately devoid of other travelers. Armitage felt exhausted from a walk and was happy when Ben sat him on the bench and went to buy the ticket.

They awaited the train in silence. Ben led him into the first class section.

\- I owe you, - Armitage said, - I will send money, I promise.  
\- Don’t, - said Ben, - It’s nothing. Snoke should have warned you about the illness.  
\- Maybe then you can pay me a visit?  
\- After I finish with the project, sure, why not. I mean, if you are serious…  
\- I’m quite sure I want to see you again. Unlike the rest of this town.

He gave Ben his address, and the ice broke. They shared another short kiss before the conductor reminded that all the company without tickets must leave the train.

As the train gathered speed, he waved to Ben and left out a sigh. Finally, he was free from that town with its secrets, nightmares, and monsters. He even traveled first class, and Ben told him that he would probably have no neighbors until next station or two.

He started to doze when the doors to his section opened and two fish-eyed arkanisians entered, silently grabbed his hands and made him stand up. The third one pulled the emergency brake. The train screeched and shook and stopped in the empty field. 

Fish-eyed dragged him out without ceremony and led to a tiny chapel on the side of the village road. As he expected it hid a door to the stairs leading down. Another travel under the sea has begun. This time – against his will and not in a dream.


	7. The sixth dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fire meet gasoline

They took him to an ice-cold stone chamber and left on the floor. For a while, he could only shiver. He has heard a commotion behind the door and then somebody started a fight with fish-eyed, shouting: “Murderer! Murderer!” – Armitage guessed that that was a relative or a spouse of the guard he has kicked.

Noises stopped abruptly, and Snoke entered the chamber. He wore an opulent golden robe and strange headgear, reminding the gods of Ancient Egypt.

The priest smiled as warmly, as before, even when Armitage cursed him out loud.

\- You still got fight in you, child. But that cough wouldn’t do.

He bent over and touched Armitage’s chest. Suddenly the pain and congestion left, and Armitage breathed fully, feeling for the first time unpleasant mix of ever-present sea vapors and herbs that burned in several cassolettes around the room.

Snoke left, making a place for another visitor – tearful Mitaka brought him the promised new clothes, that were not a suit of course, but something between a shroud and a wedding dress.

He refused help from servants and pulled on the abominable gown. Fish-eyed escorted him to a hall with its pipes and machines, that looked even more organic now, like some breathing living creatures, half emerging from the water. Workers were not present, only Brendol’s company in cloaks. Snoke took his place on a throne-like chair, that was so big it has been probably carved from stone right here. Servants tied Armitage’s wrists to a hanging chain and left him on the edge of a stone floor, looking at the dark water, as cult members started singing behind his back.

Sloane worked hard teaching him self-control, and he understood that logically he must contain his curse for the monster that the madmen were trying to summon from the depth. But each time he recognized father’s barking voice in a choir, the renewed fury burnt inside him.

The chanting became louder, cultist called to someone called Ren, again and again, whatever it was. Armitage suddenly imagined that the monster never existed, and all their summons were for naught. How embarrassed would they feel, when their song would end, and no one arrived? Would they just push him into the water? Or would they apologize and send him home? The image of cultists stupidly waiting for a mystical creature in awkward silence made him laugh against all odds.

That’s when a black claw size of a human head grabbed at the edge of the stone near his bare feet, and then another appeared. Cultists shouted in joy. Armitage watched, bewildered, as a creature slowly howled itself from the water. Giant muzzle – some unholy combination of a human skull and a lizard snoot rose and rose on the black spiky neck and then bent down and turned to look at him with one shining yellow eye.

\- Do I know you? – the voice inside his head said. Armitage closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His skin felt warmth coming from the creature’s head, he felt a faint smell of bitter tea and sweet honey.

\- Ben? – he whispered: - Your town is quite irresistible.

The creature roared and rose again. It cut the chain with a swipe of a claw and jumped into the hall. Contacting the air, its glossy black body covered with cracks like a surface of the volcano, and as the beast chased the cultists, the fire burst out and engulfed shouting people.

Armitage would have never forgiven himself if he missed the show. With an agonizing pain in the whole body, he turned to watch. Snoke was the last to go. The priest even fought – lightning bolts emerged from his hands, illuminated the hall and destroyed several machines, but the beast only paused, then pounced and bitten the man in halves.

Everything burned, even the constructions and surfaces that were not supposed to. Metal melted, and water fumed. As Snoke's body fall to the floor, Armitage’s cough returned with a vengeance and one upside – he couldn’t feel the smell of burned meat anymore. Other senses were also going to give up, and he wondered what of the conditions were going to kill him first.

The beast returned to the edge and bent to look at him.

\- I need air, – he whispered or only thought.

With a slight nod, the beast picked him up with his claws with surprising care. For a moment Armitage expected a long hike uphill, but the beast jumped directly into the dark water.

That was the end.

_He dreamt of sand. Soft warm sand getting everywhere. It was coarse and rough, but not as bad as water, he thought. He had his share of seawater for the rest of his life, so he gratefully stretched in the sand, touching and caressing it with his fingertips._


	8. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi, all the lovely people who read to that chapter! It's just a short epilogue, and I wish you all a great day!

Armitage woke up and spat some real sand. It wasn’t all sand. There was sand in his nose and in his eyes as well. And he had a sunburn. His whole body itched, and every new movement brought a slew of new uncomfortable feelings. So, he kept the range of those movements very low, afraid to know what he may learn trying to stand up. Generally, he thought he must look like a red and white starfish on the shore.

He has heard female voices from above.

\- Rose, hurry up! He’s alive!

***

Armitage sat on a cliff and untangled the fishing line. He cast it without finesse and let the heavy thing and the floating thing do their thing. He didn’t care.

\- You’d never catch anything in that manner, - Ben said sitting down by his side.  
\- Like I want to!

He turned sharply and peered at Ben. The young man had the nerve to look as good and fresh as before. Armitage grabbed the collar of his sweater and pulled him for a kiss. Big warm hands easily reached his skin – he lost weight and all the spare clothes he's been given belonged to an ogre probably.

Later they rested in the soft grass and he complained about his life. He talked about the lighthouse that was too cozy. Everybody knows that lone lighthouses must be cold and haunted. Rose and Rey were too kind and friendly. And his beard was too big, and soft and never deserved to exist to start with.

\- It’s awful.  
\- It’s shining. And you forgot one thing.  
\- What?  
\- I’m a sea monster. Isn’t that awful?

Armitage grinned.

\- I curse people and they burn.  
\- I love you.


End file.
